


Witch

by Diana_Flynn



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 17:04:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1436128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diana_Flynn/pseuds/Diana_Flynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evil sometimes comes in a righteous forms but it can't hide from a witch's wrath. An Everlark story inspired by the Salem Witch trials.<br/>Prompts in Panem, Day Two: Marigold "Cruelty"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Witch

Peeta Mellark trudged down the quiet square, cursing the mud that threatened to suck in his boots, and was already exacerbating his already painfully throbbing leg. At least it wasn’t raining anymore; but the sky was still a flat gray that was as dreary as this town, as dark as his mood. He couldn't help but compare it to the gray of her eyes, a color so soft and beautiful that it seemed to hold the very spark of life itself. The thought of her made his stomach twist uncomfortably and he forcibly pushed her out of his mind. He was too much on edge, his patience too thin and she wasn’t around to make sure that he stayed calm. 

Goody Trinkett skittered hurriedly across the empty street, heading towards the courthouse and didn't bother to look up, her usually bubbly personality was nowhere to be seen. He remembered a time when the square was alive with people chatting, selling their wares and catching up on each other's lives. People who didn't even know you well used to smile and greet you cordially. Now if you were even able to catch a person’s eye, all you would see was distrust or fear. People scurried from destination to destination with their heads down, looking at no one. Not that he could blame them.

It started after the fever outbreak. People stopped interacting with each other, trusting each other as they feared being the next victim. And then the word slipped out - “witches,” by three girls too stupid and selfish to know the damage they would cause. Johanna was the first one accused by them. They burned her before she even went to trial, but she cursed them with her dying breath. Then Sae’s addled granddaughter was next, just for being different. Sae moved out of the town shortly after saying their turn will come. 

“Witch.” One of those girls just had to breathe the word at you, and you’d be sent straight to the jail to wait for your trial. Yes there were trials now, but they were more of a cruel joke put on by blood thirsty Judge Snow who couldn’t wait to say the word guilty. Or so Peeta was told. He caught the fever early on and much had been done before he recovered. Six more women and two men since the first two had been tried, convicted and sent to be hanged. But not her, not yet, and he wouldn’t let it happen. 

“Hi Peeta!” 

He inwardly cringed as he heard Glimmer Reynold’s saccharine voice. He looked up to see The Three. Glimmer, Clove and Cashmere stepping towards him daintily. None older than 17, but each town person's life was in their hands. And they loved it. They loved that they could shake, twitch and cry at any person they didn’t like and that person would immediately be accused of witchcraft. They loved the new found deference people had for them. Before they were just ordinary girls, but now the suspicious fools in this town looked to them to save the town from evil. So he smiled widely, hiding his disgust at them and himself. Now was not the time to piss them off. 

“Are you going to the courthouse? You know it’s finally her trial.” Glimmer said putting a hand on his arm. He could feel his muscle twitch in the need to pull away, but she took it as a good sign and squeezed his bicep a little harder. 

“Yes, this is my first trial," he answered politely as they flanked him and walked him towards the building in the town center that so many people dreaded.

"Well it should be a good one. She’s not denying anything. Well she’s not saying anything at all, but we all know she’s a witch. Her mother doesn’t talk anymore, did you know that? We think she put a curse on her. Goody Everdeen was going to turn her own daughter in, we’re sure of it. Then Clove was inflicted by the evil emanating from a basket she was carrying towards your house, " Glimmer prattled on as Clove looked smug with pride. "Thankfully they arrested her before she got to you too." 

"Really?" He answered, his teeth grinding so hard in his jaw, he knew he would feel the pain for days. “Yes thank the lord you ladies were there." They smiled and preened, staying suffocatingly close to him all the way to the courthouse. Each took a turn fluttering their eyes at him, giving him complements and coy touches. It was a joke that he had no desire to laugh at. They never gave him a glance with his twisted leg, not healing right after he had been injured as a child. He endured their disdain and whispered mockings at his expense all his life. It was only because his father and brothers were dead from that very illness that almost took his life that they were interested in him now. Since they were gone he was to inherit the town bakery and each girl vied to be the proprietress to the profitable business.

They finally made it to the courthouse and people somberly streamed in. His mother was unfortunately one of them, her haughty head held high, and her back stiffly straight in her usual stance. 

"I didn't know you were well enough to come today Peeta." She said surprise filling her eyes. But she saw who was with him and for once in his life he saw she was please. "Good to see you girls. You are all looking so lovely." The girls curtsied and smiled, obviously pleased. She then dismissed the girls to talk to her son, and they curtsied again and left to his relief but his mother was far from a better alternative.. 

"I am glad to see you are finally with better company. Maybe the fever fixed your brain. I want you to stay in back here. We don't need her to to see you. I told her you died with your brothers and soon we'll be finally rid of her for good." She pushed him down at the corner back bench and it took all his willpower not to answer her back; it wasn't time or place. 

Why The Lord decided to take his kind brothers and father, he would never know and leave this woman behind. She took more pleasure than most at the unfolding witch trials. She would cruelly describe each trial death to him while he was weakened in bed. He didn’t need the details. Their large home was close to where they were hanged, and he could hear everything even in the deepest of fever. The jeers, the pleading, the opening of the hatch, and the snap of a rope. His mother was gleeful when it was his love's turn to be arrested, saying it was about time and she knew she was right about her. But he had finally recovered and he was strong now, and he would stay strong for her. 

“Now bringing in the accused Katniss Everdeen,” a booming voice rang out snapping him out of his reverie.

His love is escorted out, her head hung down and shoulders slumped in defeat. The first thing he noticed was how pale she looked. He had always loved the soft glowing olive skin the other girls taunted that she might as well be an Indian for being too dark. But now her skin was dull and almost pale as the moon, showing how much lack of sun she's had. And what made his ever growing anger simmer was the apparent bruises on any part of her flesh that showed. He wanted every town person's skin to have double the bruises she had. 

She had not looked up once since she was escorted to the bench, and he willed her to look up. He need to see if she was still in the shell of her former self. He pleaded in his mind for her head to pull up just once and she finally did, scanning the crowded courtroom looking for something but putting her head down again defeated. What he saw broke his heart, her eyes were as lifeless and cloudy as the sky outside. What she needed most for self preservation was gone. She had no fight, so lost in her head she was, and he was afraid that he was maybe too late. 

Peeta loved much about Katniss Everdeen, but he loved the fight in her more than anything else. It was the fight that made her take on the bullies who tried to beat him up for his limp when they six years old, never minding they were double her size. She wailed her little arms and threw mud until they ran away screaming she was crazy. At the first blush of youth, he should have known not to sneak a kiss on her cheek behind his parents bakery when she proudly came to show him the first squirrel she shot through the eye. She fought him then, smacking him so hard in the eye he had a dark bruise on his eyes. She was so mad she didn’t talk to him for a whole day. The longest day of his life. But then the next day he was rewarded with a kiss on the bruise, the sweetest apology he had ever gotten. The next year it was the fight in her that finally made her claim him as her own, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from Glimmer and Clove who she thought were flirting with him, her head held high despite the taunts that she was not good enough. And the best fight of all was when she shimmied up the tree outside his room, sneaking in so they could tussle in his bed. Flames leapt from her eyes as she bravely took him in her mouth for the first time, never releasing eye contact as she licked and sucked him until he could take no more. Then she rode him hard, biting his ear as she clenched around him making him moan her name as they came together. But too much pain had happened now. Katniss had lost a father, a sister, and to some extent a mother. She didn’t care if she died. 

"...you are accused of cavorting with the devil, using spells to do harm to the citizens of this town..." droned on Judge Snow. This was ridiculous. Katniss, her sister and mother helped save half the towns people. If she didn't gather the life saving mold that broke the fever, more people would have died. Her sister died trying to save the town with her. And now they accuse her of cavorting with the devil. 

The trial went on with ridiculous accusations and statements. People she had known her entire life claimed to witness to her dancing in the forest naked with the devil, cursing them with her evil eye, and putting half the men under her spell. She didn’t react to anything that was said, just staring at her hands unmoving. When it was time for any witness to act in her defense, he stood up proudly, despite his mother's protestations and walked up defend her, to let the people know how ridiculous they were. He was most satisfied to see the shock on Glimmer's face, the scowl on Clove's and the pout on Cashmere's. Finally, finally Katniss looked up again and made eye contact. He could see the light slowly coming back into her eyes, but then his mother like a blast of winter air took it out of her again. 

"Judge Snow my son cannot speak on behalf of the girl. He has just recovered from the fever and I am afraid he is still under her thrall."

"You have a valid point Goodwife Mellark. Bailiff please have Peeta Mellark taken out of the courtroom. And just like that three men pulled him out despite his protests. He pleaded with Katniss to fight, to stand up for herself but her eyes went dull again and he could practically read her mind. "I'm not worth it Peeta, it's better if I die." But she was wrong. He would not be better if she died. 

Just as they reached the doorway, he stopped and the strength of their hands and arms could not move him. He turned around and looked directly at the girls who caused so much pain to the town that he once loved and said, "You are the witches, you are the ones filled with evil, and you will burn, even if not in this life, then the next. God's righteous retribution will shine down on you." He then turned around and walked out without looking back.

Three hours later, his mother burst into the bakery and proudly informed him that she would be hanged by the neck the next afternoon. 

That next morning he lay in his bed, listening to the movements in the house. He heard his mother move about until she left for the bakery. He heard the two servants clean until they went out back to attend the animals, and then silence. He got up swiftly and packed his bag, stuffing it with only the essentials. He opened a plank of wood in the floor and lifted out a heavy box and opened it to make sure all the money he had been saving throughout the years was there. He was satisfied to see not one gold coin was out of place. 

He then walked through the forest behind the town, staying in the shadows, not to be seen until he came to the Everdeen household. He threw his bag in her cart before proceeding into the small house. Her mother didn't react when he burst in, just rocked back and forth staring at nothing. He knew she wasn't long for this world, he couldn't save her, so he passed her, resolutely staring forward. In the room Katniss shared with her sister, he took everything that she needed or was important to her. Clothes, her favorite boots, her dad's jacket and bow, a painting he made of Prim for her. Once he was done, he passed the shell that was her mother, and threw her bag in the cart next to his. As he was hitching up her shaggy pony he could hear the cry of the mob start, growing ever louder as the time of her death drew near. 

 

He calmly walked to the edge of the town square, and waited in the dark alcove of a building so no one would see him. Practically all the towns people were gathered, ready to see another hanging. The ones left with their morals intact had mournful looks on their faces. But most looked ready for their favorite entertainment, ready to see another life snuffed out. As she was lead out of the courthouse, the cacophony of voices rose at the very sight of her. She did not flinch, she did not quake in fear or plead like so many other did before her. She just submissively followed where she was pushed and pulled until she was on top of the stage, ready for her last performance. Peeta silently plead for the people to finally show some sanity before he had to intervene. She was read her last rites. He waited, they hissed. Her hands were tied behind her back. He waited, they jeered. The hood was put around her neck. He waited, they cheered. The noose was tightened around her neck. He no longer waited. 

“Fire!” People turn their heads to see the courthouse in flames, the roof already entirely consumed. Then another fire, at the bakery he spent so much of his life in. He could hear his mother screaming for help to put it out and he felt nothing. The place will be but ashes before the day is done. Then another one building, and another one. The only building left unharmed was the church and homes of those who stood up for the persecuted as a symbol that good can prevail. People cried out and ran around like scattered ants not knowing where to go, which fire to put out first. The girl waiting for her end is forgotten. 

No one saw him leave his hiding place, walking calmly through the flames to get to her. He untied her bonds and lifts the hood off of her to reveal unseeing eyes. He carefully lifted her in his arms, afraid she may break, she doesn't react. Then he kissed her on the forehead. She blinked. He kissed her on the nose. She blinked again and tears came to her eyes. He kissed her gently on the lips and she sighed into his mouth. 

He pulled his head back back to look into her eyes and then he saw it, the ember deep in her eyes showing there was life still there. As they stared at each other, it grew until the flame was burning bright. 

“Peeta? You came for me?” She wrapped her frail arms around his neck and he felt relief and happiness for the first time in ages. 

“Yes, I'll always come for you. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save your family,” He answered, his voice cracking slightly.

She hugged him tightly, and he felt her tears dripping down his throat. “It’s not your fault.” 

“But if I hadn’t been sick…”

“No,” She answered fiercely. “It’s not your fault. You couldn't help it. I'm just grateful you survived.” 

She looks up and is now aware of the flames consuming the town. “Did you do this?” She whispered. He just nodded his head, not looking at her. People were blind, he was the wicked one. He was the one blessed and cursed by powers that could bury him at any moment. She was always his balance. The calming force that kept him in control. "Without you I am nothing Katniss. I can't be good without out you. I would rather see everything burn for what they did to you, what they did to the others."

She put her hand on his cheek so he was forced to look at her. “I think they’ve had enough, don’t you?” He just nodded again and closed his eyes and a heavy downpour started, instantly helping the townspeople quell the fire. But he still felt the hate burning in himself, the need to see them punished more. 

“Stay with me Peeta?” She asked, a question she had voiced countless times before. The question that always pulled him back from the brink. 

“Always.” He answered and kissed her sweetly, intensely, feeling their connection bring them each more back to life. 

He turned and walks towards her home. He puts her gently in the cart, wrapping a blanket around her and settled next to her, one arm securely fastened around her waist. He snapped the reins to get the pony moving and they left the town forever. Neither of them looked back.

**Author's Note:**

> It's really hard for me to right short stories so I'm pretty proud to pull this off. 20 people actually died in the real trials and 5 more waiting in prison to go on trial. You were more likely to live if you confessed as a witch ironically enough. The original girls who started the mass hysteria were only 9 and 12 years old. It amazes me the evil people can do thinking they are in the right.


End file.
